The TTAB concluded, in the context of the records for those claimed marks, “thins” added zero or nothing in terms of distinctiveness.

“[W]e find that the combination of CORN THINS and RICE THINS as a whole imparts no new meaning and that the relevant public will understand CORN THINS and RICE THINS to refer to a subcategory or key aspect of crackers, or ‘crispbread slices predominantly of corn, namely popped corn cakes’ and ‘crispbread slices primarily made of rice, namely rice cakes,’ respectively. CORN THINS and RICE THINS are, therefore, generic terms and are incapable of identifying the source of such products; purchasers will understand and will use such terms to refer to as a subcategory of crackers.”

There is quite a bit of detail to the 6-year story for trademark types, with the case ending this way, but our friend John Welch has covered the history far too well to repeat, so if you’re interested, please see here and here, and here, instead.

Yet, for our discussion, if Rice Thins and Corn Thins are truly generic and incapable of performing as trademarks, what kind of a hand might that signal to others?

As Seth Godin has said, in “The thing about elephants,” they don’t hide well, so when one is in the room, if you simply mention it’s there, it just might leave.